Ceremonies for Life Death
ABOUT ME
My work as a home funeral educator and green burial guide is informed by my commitment to economic and environmental justice, and by my belief that natural death rituals can mean a more humane grieving process.
I also believe women bring a healthy spiritual and ethical sensibility to leading people through major rites of passage. Endorsed by the American Humanist Society, I'm a registered clergy member in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and a member of the National Home Funeral Alliance, Funeral Consumers Alliance of Eastern Massachusetts, Green Burial Massachusetts, and the International Association of Professional Wedding Officiants. I trained at the Celebrant Foundation & Institute in creating and performing ritual. Previous to my work as an officiant, I led a Quaker organization and was an editor.
In addition to being a celebrant, I’m a city cyclist, mixtape nerd, small-batch ice cream experimenter, traveler, mom to two crazy-loving boys, and amateur drummer.
If you're spiritual-not-religious, interfaith, atheist, LGBTQ+, of color, or just having trouble finding someone who gets you, let's talk. I proudly serve people of all faiths, races, heritage traditions, genders, ages, and orientations in the greater Boston area, and can travel for ceremonies if my schedule allows. Creating ritual and ceremony for people of all kinds is my thing!
She/Hers
MEMBER OF...
National Funeral
Consumers Alliance
Eastern Massachusetts
American Marriage Ministries
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thank you...
... Vince Vanston, for teaching me that poetry and a deep appreciation for life could co-exist with dark humor, death, and undertaking.
... Ursula LeGuin, Walt Whitman, Mark Strand, Anne Carson, E.M Forster, A. S. Byatt, Ray Bradbury, Ted Chiang, Michel Faber, and John Crowley
... Grizzly Bear, Joy Division, Kristin Hersh, American Football, Bowie, Adrienne Davies, Interpol, Bill Withers, Liz Phair, Father John Misty, The Meters, Public Enemy, Kate Bush, Eric Satie, The Smiths, Brian Eno, Fiona Apple, Parliament, Luscious Jackson, Sparklehorse, No Age, Beastie Boys, Moe Tucker, & The Flaming Lips
... Fisher and Diaz, for being a relentlessly human family, and for staying classy in your care of the dead and their living.
... Forest Hills Cemetery and Mount Auburn Cemetery, for many hours of solo and shared walks in nature.
... Mom and Dad for modeling the craft and theory of existentialism, life cycle rituals, and ethical leadership.
... J.P. Licks and L.A. Burdick for getting me through summers and winters.
...Adrianne Mathiowetz for capturing me in front of the lens, and Vera Times for kind graffiti.
... to my kids, who keep me smiling and inspired to do the important stuff.